Angor freed Dodoro from his bracelet and used his Gondola to head to Maya’s residence while following Sunders’ guidance.
Similar to last time, Dodoro stayed quiet inside the cabin at the back of the boat, while Angor and Sunders stayed at the front.
Angor felt a bit anxious about meeting a true prophet. He kept glancing at his strange hand and wasn’t sure what would happen to him later.
“How-how do prophets work their magic, sir?” Angor tried to say something just to ease his mood.
“Most prophets refer to themselves as ‘Bearers of Fate’. They can completely see through you, everything, should they wish to.”
Angor frowned. “So, we won’t be able to keep anything private from prophets? And the other wizards are fine with this?”
“It’s more difficult to see the fate of someone strong. Also, the one being inspected by a prophet will easily notice it. Prophets usually do not peek at people’s secrets without a reason. There is something else. Each time a prophet attempts to read fate, either their own fate or that of someone else’s, they might suffer a ‘backfire’.”
“You get a backfire by reading fate?”
“Knowing fate itself might cause a change of events in the future, even if one does not try to intervene. And when fate is altered, it will seek ‘revenge’ on those who caused it. Such is the cost of tempting with fate.”
Sunders then provided an example.
Supposed that someone would find a bag of magic crystals on the ground one day without knowing it in advance, then fate wouldn’t have a problem granting him the fortune.
But, if that man “predicted” the outcome and then pretended that he did not know, should fate still fulfill his wish?
The concept of “fate” was fickle. It was like a playful imp that prevented anyone from understanding it. Predicted luck might turn into misfortune instead, while misfortune... would probably remain as misfortune.
“Trying to ascertain a clear path among the strings of fate is almost an impossible task, as it involves too many known and unknown knowledge and concepts,” Sunders continued to explain. “Now, consider each person’s life as a string that connects the start of their birth until their death. Each person you meet, each matter you solved, might affect the strings of other people. Their strings will always intersect with yours, and in some cases, your strings will intertwine with each other for a long time. Suppose a prophet wishes to read and perhaps affect your ‘string’, it will undeniably disturb mine as well because we’re connected.
“Prophets cannot tell how severe the outcome of their ‘fate reading’ will be and whether it will bring doom to themselves. More importantly, they can’t easily read your fate in the first place. Prophets cannot and should not daringly explore the secrets concealed behind fate. They can only perceive broken pieces of information from the strings of fate and use the skills they learned to infer possible answers. Or, they can throw the clues back your way and tell you to figure out the answers on your own.”
Angor nodded as he understood the limits of prophets.
Generally speaking, those who were powerful or brave enough might freely look into someone’s secrets, yet most prophet wouldn’t do that because of the dangerous restrictions.
This was why prophets tended to speak random and incomprehensible words—they did their best.
Angor glanced at his right hand again. “Are we going to get a reliable result then?”
“You don’t have to worry about that. Maya should have no problem getting a good answer regarding your hand since it isn’t your secret or anything like that. Prophecy is a way more complicated subject than what I can explain. There are many fancy sub-subjects such as the ‘Conservation of Fate’, ‘Probability for Guidance’, ‘The Rhythm of Worlds and What is Hidden’... Those who don’t know much about prophecy, like me, can only derive inaccurate guesses.”
Angor was getting really confused, but he gave up thinking too much since he knew the test on his hand was going to be alright.
...
Maya lived on a cloud island at the far side of Tree of Eternity, away from other people. This “Starlight Island” was only a few dozen kilometers away from Phantom Island, thus it did not take them very long to travel.
At first, Angor thought the name of the island was meant to go with Maya’s profession, like how “Phantom Master” Sunders called his territory the Phantom Island. He realized he was very wrong upon setting his eyes on this beautiful place.
Green forest, rising mountains, and misty waterfalls... This island had every natural element available on Phantom Island, but with one extra, unique sight.
The island was full of glowing fireflies.
It was dusk time now, but the sky was still bright like burning flame. All the green spots wavering all around Starlight Island looked like stars during sunset.
“The wonderful view of Starlight Island is quite famous in Brute Cavern. Unfortunately, Maya does not like visitors as they will break her peace. And those who set foot uninvited will... let’s say, suffer from some bad luck.”
Angor’s Gondola already reached the island. He raised an eyebrow when he saw someone in white waving a hand at them. At the same time, he felt Toby getting restless in his chest pocket.
When Sunders saw him comforting the bird, Angor quickly explained, “That man over there, he once talked to us and said that one of Toby’s outfits is um, ‘couple set’ with...”
Sunders glanced at Toby and then looked at the man in white again.
“Well, he’s almost right.”
Toby put up a glum look, while Angor remained speechless.
It was Hobson, the person who wore a strange white bear costume and constantly tried to talk to Angor in Sky Tower. Everything he said sounded cryptic and vague.
When Angor met him for the first time, Hobson said that Toby’s white otter outfit looked very similar to his white bear one, since they both had cute, round ears.
Today, Toby had a panda costume on. Angor crafted this one using bear hides of different colors the other day.
He didn’t know if “pandas” existed in this world, but the adorable images he saw from the documentaries left a deep impression on his mind. While they were on the way back from Floating Mech City, he found some free time and finished his very first alchemy clothes by making a suit for Toby.
A lot of materials went to waste in the process before he finally succeeded.
The suit was enchanted with a “Preserve Heat” rune. It seemed Toby really liked his new outfit. In fact, Toby had been in this panda costume for over a week now.
Compared to the otter suit, Angor would admit that this one went better with Hobson’s “white bear” image. Angor was afraid that after listening to Sunders’ joke, Toby would never wear it again.
Hobson, still dressed as a white bear, went to greet them as soon as they landed.
“Angor! Fate let us reunite again.”
Angor rolled his eyes. I knew it.
Next, Hobson looked at Toby with widened eyes. “Such contrary yet fascinating colors! Why didn’t I think of—”
He moved a hand to examine Toby’s suit only to receive a mighty kick from Toby’s claw. It seemed that Toby didn’t mean to harm as Hobson was knocked aside just a little.
Hobson dusted his wrinkled costume and approached them from another direction. “Ahem. My teacher knew that there will be dear visitors coming, so she asked me to welcome you. Please follow me.”
He bowed politely to Sunders. When he tapped his walking cane on the ground, the trees ahead of them bent to the sides and revealed a narrow path.
While walking, Angor was still trying to accept the truth that Hobson was actually Maya’s student.
Well... I should’ve guessed. This man’s a Prophet apprentice, while Brute Cavern only has one Prophet wizard...
Angor glanced at Dodoro and realized that Dodoro was going to study alongside Hobson from now on.
This guy got a strange temper, but he’s not dangerous. Just... I hope Dodoro won’t learn his characteristics.
Soon, they left the forest and arrived at a giant tower-like structure.
“Professor is waiting on the top floor. Please come with me.”
When they finally met with Maya, Angor’s first impression was that the witch looked extremely short and weak.
Thud, thud...
Maya was currently walking around the projection of a star map while tapping on the floor with her walking cane. Her steps appeared extremely unstable as if she were going to collapse at any moment.
Angor waited for a while before Maya finished “stargazing” and looked at them.
Using her gleaming eyes, which showed none other than great wisdom, she slowly scanned through everyone before finally fixing her gaze upon Sunders.
“A brilliant future you have there, Mister Phantom. The fate has blessed you with an eventful yet fruitful morrow.”
Her voice was slow and gentle, yet persuasive.
“Instead of checking this tedious life of mine, I think you should pay more attention to someone else here.” Sunders smiled.
Also slowly, Maya gazed upon Angor while her eyes radiated a dim glimmer.